The invention pertains to a machine for mowing stalk-type crops and which contains several feed and mowing devices that are arranged laterally adjacent to one another and serve for cutting off and transporting the crop being harvested, wherein a transverse conveyor channel, through which the harvested crop can be conveyed at least approximately transverse to the forward driving direction, is provided on the rear side of the aforementioned feed and mowing devices, and wherein a feed channel, through which the harvested crop can be fed to a chopping device, is arranged on the downstream end of the transverse conveyor channel.
In known machines for mowing stalk-type crops, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,225, for example, several mowing and feed drums are arranged laterally adjacent to one another, with the crop being harvested by the outer mowing and feed drums being initially laterally transported along the rear side of the machine in a transverse conveyor channel and then introduced into a feed channel by means of slope conveyor drums that rotate about approximately vertical shafts, i.e., the harvested crop is deflected rearward opposite to the driving direction by 90xc2x0. The harvested crop is fed to the pre-compressing rollers and the chopping drum of a field chopper through the feed channel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,623 also discloses a mowing device in which the crop to be harvested is mowed and then transported transverse to the driving direction. Stripping rollers that rotate about vertical shafts transport the harvested crop to the feed rollers in the feed channel of the field chopper.
EP 0 818 136 A1 discloses a front attachment for a field chopper in which a driven conveyor roller is mounted for rotating about a horizontal shaft arranged upstream of the feed rollers in the feed channel of a field chopper. The conveyor roller lifts the stalks of the harvested crop upward and then transports the stalks into the feed channel. The conveyor roller only conveys the harvested crop to the rear along the path of forward movement of the field chopper in this case.
In machines for mowing stalk-type crops in which the harvested crop is transported in a transverse conveyor channel, it occasionally occurs that the lower ends of the harvested plants, for example, long green corn stalks, protrude out of the transverse conveyor channel. Slope conveyor drums that rotate about approximately vertical shafts are arranged laterally upstream of the fore-and-aft disposed feed channel leading to the pre-compressing rollers. The function of these slope conveyor drums consists of conveying the plants rearward, namely into the feed channel. However, the slope conveyor drums are unable to take hold of the plants that protrude out of the transverse conveyor channel with their lower ends. These plants may become situated laterally in front of the slope conveyor drums such that they block the additional crop flow. Although this jamming effect could be improved by narrowing the transverse conveyor channel, throughput problems almost certainly would arise in the normal harvesting mode, i.e., when plants are drawn in over the entire width of the machine.
According to the present invention, there is provided an improved crop feeding arrangement for a mowing machine having laterally spaced mowing and feed drums having a transverse conveyor channel behind them.
An object of the invention is to provide a mowing machine, as described above, wherein a deflection element is arranged at a height above the transverse conveyor channel in a location just upstream of the feed channel that extends rearwardly from an inner end of the transverse conveyor channel.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide mowing machine, as set forth in the immediately preceding object wherein the deflection element is mounted and shaped for deflecting plant parts, that protrude upward out of the transverse conveyor channel, downward and/or rearward opposite to the forward driving direction. In order to act upon plants that upwardly protrude out of the transverse conveyor channel with a downwardly directed force, the lower surface of the deflection element is disposed at an incline with respect to vertical and horizontal lines. Thus, when viewing the deflection element from the rear while facing in the forward driving direction, a wedge or an inclined plane is formed on which plants that protrude upwardly out of the transverse conveyor channel impinge and are deflected downward.
Another object of the invention is to provide a deflection element, as set forth in the objects above, which is mounted for rotation about a horizontal transverse axis and is shaped so that it rotates freely so as to prevent undesirable friction between the harvested crop and the deflection element while maintaining a constant deflection surface profile for deflecting upwardly projecting stalks.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a deflection element, as set forth in the foregoing objects, which is mounted for moving upward against a yieldable biasing force. Due to this measure, the deflection element interacts with the crop flow independently of its flow density. In addition, the harvested crop is compressed such that the conveying process is simplified. It would also be conceivable to provide a lower and/or upper limit stop for defining the range of motion of the deflection element.
These and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the ensuing description together with the appended drawings.